Pauline R. Goger, M.D.

Dr. Pauline R. Goger, age 82 years, of Stanton, NJ, died on October 30, 1996 at the Rolling Hills Care Center, Clinton Township, NJ. Born in Connellsville, PA on January 22, 1914, she was the daughter of the late Michael John Rohm and Bertha Cline. She was a Physician of Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital in NYC for ten years and the Hunterdon Medical Center from 1952-1968. Pauline was predeceased by her husband, Milton Goger, who died in 1956. Interment in Hills Church Cemetery, Export, Westmoreland County, PA.

***From the Hunterdon County Cultural Heritage Commission***

PAULINE ROHM GOGER

The first -- and for ten years -- the only female physician on the staff of the

Hunterdon Medical Center, Dr. Pauline Goger was raised in Connellsville, a small town

in western Pennsylvania. After receiving a degree in zoology from Oberlin and a M.A.

from Wellesley, she began work towards a doctorate in genetics at the University of

Pennsylvania, which she was awarded in 1942. In the next few years, Dr. Goger taught

at colleges in Boston, met and married her husband Milton, moved to New Jersey where

she taught at Rutgers, and then started medical school at New York University. She

was graduated in 1950, second in her class. Her postgraduate training was at Bellevue

Hospital in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

One morning her husband heard on the radio about a new hospital in Flemington,

which was to be affiliated with New York University Medical School. She soon realized

that this was a place where she could use her unique training. She was engaged for the

Chronic Illness Survey, providing examinations on patients who had been selected by

countywide sampling. In addition, she received a grant from the state to set up a clinic

for patients with rheumatic heart disease. Eventually, she became a full-time member

of the Department of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Groger felt strongly that gender discrimination was quite evident in her early

years at the Medical Center. It was ten years before the second female physician was

appointed. In fact, when she was considering the initial offer from Hunterdon, her

mentor at Bellevue warned her that "they're (the men) going to give you a rough

time." (It should be noted that at that time -- the late 40's -- Yale and Harvard were not

admitting women medical students, and Johns Hopkins had said she was too old.) In

other subtle ways, she felt there was an "attitude" among her associates.

However, they also learned that she could be relied upon to be effective in

common-sense management. She spoke her mind with blunt vigor and honesty. And

the family doctors regarded her as well-trained and easy to get along with, who would

do her best no matter what the task.

After she retired from practice, she founded an employee health service at

Hunterdon, and managed this service for a number of years. She became physically

impaired, but continued to live alone in her home with the help of a devoted group of

neighbors who cared for her until her death in 1996.